"Project" Blog for 2006

Ok, one last note before we rest for a while. It’s been a surprisingly smooth 6 weeks on the road. Doors have opened constantly. Brazil is hot and sunny. The people very laid back and friendly. I’m grateful to spend some time out in the farmlands in this area. It’s sugar cane as far as […]

Brazil rocks!!! Not only just because we are full on in summer, or because of the beautiful blooming flowers, or all the yummy juices made up of any topical fruit you can think of, the amazingly fantastic people we have run across down here…while actually indeed for these reasons and more, Brazil is defiantly a […]

We’ve been spending a lot of time learning about sugar these past few days. This has included visiting the sugar cane fields and processing plants and sampling plenty of caipirinhas, a cocktail made from pinga which is a rum distilled from sugar cane. Brazil is at the forefront of the renewable energy revolution and they […]

It has been quite a journey these past few days. We left Russia on Saturday and 30 hours later, and 100 degrees hotter, we landed in Brazil. At one point on the trip I recall flying over Russia in an Air France plane listening to ZZ Top on my Ipod. It was some sort of […]

Transportation is a real trip here in Samara. There is a near constant traffic jam on the main road outside our hotel. Snow removal does not seem to be a high priority in this city either. Taxis routinely have to barrel their way through the snow rutted side road to get to our hotel entrance. […]

I was trying to get off the city tram yesterday during rush hour. Several other people were trying to get on at the same time. Pretty soon the doors shut and I was stuck - on my way to wherever the next stop was. The other passengers looked at me, unimpressed, as if to say, […]

I am sitting in my Hotel room in Samara, Russia with an open beer, with a BBC Documentary on Billie Holiday playing on the TV in the background. We’ve dubbed this hotel we are staying in “America” as many of the people staying here are from the US. Also the hotel has any of the […]

Another great but cold day here in Samara. I know it’s typical of a Minnesotan to talk about the weather but in this case it’s justified.
I’ve really enjoyed my time here in town. It was a nice change of pace to leave behind the giant cities of the past weeks for the more intimate confines […]

Russia has a certain vibe that we felt almost as soon as we boarded the Aeroflot plane in London. The Russian people, at first glance, appeared to be rather unfriendly and even a little gruff. The cab drivere who accosted us at the Moscow airport were downright aggressive as they got in our faces with […]